There used to be one album I did not care for by Radiohead. That album was "Hail To The Thief".

Now there are two albums that bore me to tears, and this one way more so. I'm used to this band giving me WTF moments, but is this the best they could do? Sounds like a demo Thom gave the band and decided they were too lazy to develop it and put it out as is.

There used to be one album I did not care for by Radiohead. That album was "Hail To The Thief".

I also didn't like "Hail To The Thief". Then I saw them play those songs live, and I started to appreciate the album more.

Actually, I feel that way about all the post Kid A Stuff (as far as the live versions being where the song really makes sense). It is like the studio is the place where they mix the ingredients, but the meal isn't ready until they bring it out live.

Now that I have sat with the album a bit more, there are 4 songs I really like. Still not crazy about the rest.

I don't think TKOL sounds underdeveloped, or like incomplete demos. I think it's been overdone in a lot of respects.

It's strange, there are a couple of cover versions of "Lotus Flower" floating around youtube that I prefer to the real song. And it just demonstrates that at it's essence (with an acoustic guitar and a voice,) it's decent. But I feel like they tried too hard with the entire album and lost the essence of something actually worthwhile.

The entire disc is a hard listen. I think there are some really intelligent things going on. The first track is just as clever as any of their best Kid A moments, but it doesn't make for a better song necessarily. And maybe this is one of those records we'll look back on and figure out that we just weren't ready for it at the time. But I doubt it.

I think Thom's really come into his own as a singer on these last two records. He has more control of his vibrato and his use of words as an instrument, and it's certainly not lost here. I just wish the material was better, or at least delivered in a manner that doesn't make you work so hard to TRY and like it.

Rather than a newspaper album, I'm thinking maybe they made a publication that's more similar to Columbus CEO.

See, I'm a Radiohead fanboy, and I tend to love 90-100% of every album, so 50% is pretty disappointing, especially with such a short tracklist. It's a question of expectations.

(As an aside: Returning to "In Rainbows" this year as I seek context for "The King of Limbs", I'm of the mind that "In Rainbows" is among the elite Radiohead albums. Probably only "OK Computer" and "Kid A" top it for me.)

It's definitely not amazing. Maybe we'll see a companion to this, out of the blue, in a couple months time --- that might lend to this album making more sense? That's my theory. Still, there are some revelatory moments on this record. And I'm of the opinion that Radiohead make albums that sound like nothing else. So without TKOL being the best Radiohead album, it's leaps and bounds better than most records coming out today.

Deville wrote:

(As an aside: Returning to "In Rainbows" this year as I seek context for "The King of Limbs", I'm of the mind that "In Rainbows" is among the elite Radiohead albums. Probably only "OK Computer" and "Kid A" top it for me.)

I wholeheartedly agree. Anyone who doesn't think In Rainbows is their 3rd best record (or maybe fourth, if you're a Bends loyalist), isn't listening hard enough.

See, I'm a Radiohead fanboy, and I tend to love 90-100% of every album, so 50% is pretty disappointing, especially with such a short tracklist. It's a question of expectations.

(As an aside: Returning to "In Rainbows" this year as I seek context for "The King of Limbs", I'm of the mind that "In Rainbows" is among the elite Radiohead albums. Probably only "OK Computer" and "Kid A" top it for me.)

Yup. Pretty much sums up what I was trying to say in my TOP review from last week. ...And I love In Rainbows. Lots.

See, I'm a Radiohead fanboy, and I tend to love 90-100% of every album, so 50% is pretty disappointing, especially with such a short tracklist. It's a question of expectations.

(As an aside: Returning to "In Rainbows" this year as I seek context for "The King of Limbs", I'm of the mind that "In Rainbows" is among the elite Radiohead albums. Probably only "OK Computer" and "Kid A" top it for me.)

Yup. Pretty much sums up what I was trying to say in my TOP review from last week. ...And I love In Rainbows. Lots.

I agree. In Rainbows is 3rd for me right behind OK Computer and the Bends (I'm one of those loyalists).

_________________Gob: "My God. What is this feeling?"
Michael: "You know, the feeling that you're feeling is just what many of us call ... a 'feeling.'
Gob: "It's not like envy, or even hungry."
Michael: "Could it be love?"
Gob: "I know what an erection feels like, Michael. No, it's the opposite -- it's like my heart is getting hard."

I agree that In Rainbows, OK Computer and Kid A are the keepers. The Bends I suspect I never took enough time to get into for it to grab me. There were just a ton of other records at the time that I thought were so much better so it was in CD pile C or D for months and faded- and then they released OK Computer and blew my mind.

I never really liked The Bends as an entire record but there are some great songs on it.

_________________People to whom nothing has ever happened cannot understand the unimportance of events.